clearer picture about the genetic and biological underpinnings of the disease. This new finding is important because it helps with developing new drugs.
Lead researcher Professor Mark McCarthy of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford said in a press release, "It is hard to come up with new drugs for diabetes without first having an understanding of which biological processes in the body to target."
Researchers analyzed DNA from more than 35,000 people with type 2 diabetes and 115,000 people without diabetes. Scientists from the University of Oxford, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, participated in the study and used a new DNA chip that allows them to explore known gene variations more deeply than they could in the past.
Two of the new genes had different effects in men and women, with one raising the risk for women and the other raising the risk for men.
"By looking at all 60 or so gene regions together we can look for signatures of the type of genes that influence the risk of type 2 diabetes. We see genes involved in controlling the process of cell growth, division, and aging, particularly those that are active in the pancreas where insulin is produced," says McCarthy. "We see genes involved in pathways through which the body's fat cells can influence biological processes elsewhere in the body. And we see a set of transcription factor genes- genes that help control what other genes are active."
Researchers now have the ability to capture every gene variation association with type 2 diabetes, including why beta cells in the pancreas can't produce insulin when type 2 diabetes develops if there are fewer cells available. They can also understand better how obesity contributes to type 2 diabetes and how fat tissue communicates with the liver and muscles where insulin resistance occurs.
McCarthy adds, "We now have strong evidence that there is a long trail of further common gene variations beyond those we have identified so far. The 60 or so we know about will be the gene variants with the strongest effects on the risk of type 2 diabetes. But there are likely to be tens, hundreds, possibly even thousands more genes having smaller and smaller influences on development of the condition."
This research is exciting because of the potential for greater understanding of the disease, which can lead to better drug treatments and treatments.
Reference: EMaxHealth
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